Dear friends
Do come and see our books at the World Book Fair. We can't afford to have a stall of our own - the book fair has hiked up its prices substantially, and we just don't make enough money back to take a full stand, plus, small publishers have no clout so get relegated to corners and inaccessible places (while the large ones can use money power to get the best locations!). So we've taken a considered decision to save money and spend it on publishing the next book!! But meanwhile, if you are visiting, we'd love you to look at our books which are available from our distributors, Penguin Books India and Cambridge University Press. While Penguin will have all our 'trade' or general books (i.e. fiction, general non fiction, young adult, children), Cambridge will have our academic books. They're located at:

So we've all recovered from the Jaipur Literature Festival, but its time now to get back into gear. The Kala Ghoda Festival is right around the corner, four days to go actually. We're really excited to have two of our authors at the Festival.

We'll let you know as soon as the schedule is finalised. But watch out for Annie Zaidi and Natasha Sharma both of whom will be at the festival. Say hello, feel free to start a conversation, and definitely get them to sign your copy.

The exodus is happening as we speak, writers, publishers, members of the fourth estate and book lovers in Delhi and elsewhere will be Jaipur-bound in a few hours, in time for Day 1 of the literature festival.

We at Zubaan are extremely excited because this year, one of our books has been shortlisted for the DSC Literature Prize along with some other fantastic titles. Look out for Chandrakanta, our author, and don't forget to get your copy of "A Street in Srinagar" written by her and translated by Manisha Chaudhry signed.

You'll find Chandrakanta at the DSC Prize Announcement Ceremony which takes place on Day 2, from 6.30-7.30pm at the Mughal Tent. The US $50,000 DSC Prize celebrates the richness and diversity of South Asian writing and works of fiction in English or translated to English from any language are eligible. It is open to authors from across the globe as long as the writing is about South Asia.

Srinagar, capital city of the famed ‘paradise on earth’, Kashmir. Ailan Gali, a deep, dark narrow lane that lies at its heart, where houses stand on a finger’s width of space and lean crookedly against each other, so deep, so narrow, so closely connected that even thieves do not dare enter. Yet people live and love here, they cling on to their old ways, they share stories and food, joys and sorrows, sufficient unto themselves. But the outside world beckons, youngsters begin to leave, and slowly change makes its way into Ailan Gali only to find its hitherto hidden mirror-image – the change that has insidiously been working its way into the lives of those who are the gali’s permanent residents. This funny, poignant, evocative story of a Kashmir as yet untouched by violence – but with its shadows looming at the edges – is a classic of Hindi literature, available in English translation for the first time.

Chandrakanta Studied in Srinagar and Rajasthan and published her first story in 1967 inKalpana. She has since written and published many novels and short story collections as well as a volume of poetry.

Manisha Chaudhry has translated stories, novels and documents for a range of publishing houses and organisations, from both Hindi and English. She is currently Head, Content Development with Pratham Books.

Are you going to Jaipur? Well, we are, and we hope you're coming along too. And if you do find yourself there, don't forget to look out for our Zubaan authors. They won't always be by the bar or schmoozing with fellow literati, but they'll be around, in conversation with other authors and in panel discussions. How do you recognise them? Well, here's our little guide to Zubaan @ the Jaipur Literature Festival.

Day 1

January 20, 2012

5.15-6.15pm:

'Prison Diaries'

Anjum Zamarud Habib will be in conversation with Iftikhar Gilani, Sahil Maqbool on a panel moderated by Siddharth Vardarajan.

Day 3

January 22, 2012

3.45-4.45pm

'Amaar Bangla'

Zubaan author Anita Agnihotri will be in conversation with Malashri Lal along with Radha Chakravarthy and Fakrul Alam.

Supported by Ministry of External Affairs (SAARC Division)

Day 5

January 24, 2012

12.30-1.30pm

'Women Writing Conflict'

Zubaan authors Anita Agnihotri and Mitra Phukan will be on a panel along with Devi Rajab, moderated by Urvashi Butalia.

3.45-4.45pm

'The Good Girls Come to Jaipur: Last Words from Lovely Ladies'

Annie Zaidi, author of Zubaan's The Bad Boy's Guide to the Good Indian Girl will be in conversation with Qaisra Shahraz, Manisha Kulshreshta and Samit Basu on a panel moderated by Nisha Susan.

A little bit about our authors:

Anita Agnihotri

Anita Agnihotri is a bureaucrat and administrator. She has worked extensively with tribal communities who provide the content for her moving and poetic writing. She has authored over 30 books that include novels, collections, and short stories, and it is this last genre that is the closest to her heart. Her collections of stories include Forest Interludes, which has been translated into Swedish, and Seventeen, published by Zubaan.

Anjum Zamarud Habib

Anjum Zamarud Habib is the founder of Muslim Khawateen Markaz which was established in 1990 to work for the welfare of women. A year after her release from prison, she founded the Association for the Families of Kashmiri Prisoners and is currently conducting a survey on Kashmiri prisoners in jails in India and their families.

Annie Zaidi

Annie Zaidi is the author of Known Turf: Bantering with Bandits and Other True Tales, and the co-author of The Bad Boy's Guide to the Good Indian Girl, Or The Good Indian to Living, Loving, and Having Fun.

Mitra Phukan

Mitra Phukan is a writer, translator, columnist, ethnomusicologist and classical vocalist. Her published literary works include four children’s books, a biography, and a novel,The Collector’s Wife. Her most recent work is another novel, A Monsoon of Music. Her short stories have appeared in numerous anthologies. Her works have been translated into several languages.

For centuries, women’s narratives have been sustained through the space of the memoir and the autobiography. These genres offer women the possibility of recounting the story of their lives and their experiences first-hand. Indian literature has been enriched by these re-tellings, these attempts by women to write their selves.

“Writing the Self”, Take 1 of Zubaan Talkies, pays tribute to these narratives. The event will feature readings from a selection of excerpts from first-person accounts by writers such as Rashsundari Devi, Binodini Dasi, Kamala Das, Sister Jesme, Baby Halder, Revathy, Anjum Zamrud Habib, and others. The event will also feature performances by women writers and poets who will perform original work.

Feel free to bring along extracts from your own personal diaries/blogs.

The final selection of excerpts and readers will be confirmed in a few days.

Northeast is, more often than not, absent from any discourse on Indian literature. Here's a chance to gain some perspectives on the subject, its uniqueness, its similarities with mainland literature, the painful and violent political history that shapes it. Easterine's latest work, Bitter Wormwood, gives a poignant insight into the human cost behind the political headlines from one of India’s most beautiful and misunderstood regions. The book is published by Zubaan Books.

Indian academic circles have ignored literature from the northeast. In most courses of Indian Literature, or Contemporary Indian writing, literature from the Northeast is mostly ignored. Why do you think this is, and what should be done?

EASTERINE: Hello, this is an interesting question. About thirty years ago, there wasnt much literary production from the north east in the sense that we were not getting published, we had very little translated literature in English and whatever was available was poetry and writings by anthropologists on the region. So the mainland universities cannot be blamed for ignoring literary input from the North east. But now that so much is being published from the NE, there are no excuses for Indian academia to ignore literature of the NE region.

EASTERINE: This is a highly politically loaded question because if we go into it, I have to honestly state that during the time of the Mughals, the NE was not part of India and even India was not India as we know it after 1947. Historically speaking, the Naga hills were colonised by the British in the 1800s and on their departure, the British ignored Naga appeals to leave them out of the Indian union. Rather treacherously, the British halved Naga territories and gave the one half to Burma and the other to India. So, there was no cultural connection between mainland India and the NE. There wasn't even a historical connection so it is not surprising that following Mughal Hindustan, mainland India did not 'recognise NE' as you have put it.

Kohima, 2007. A young man has been gunned down in cold blood ? the latest casualty in the conflict that has scarred the landscape and brutalised the people of Nagaland.

Easterine Kire s new novel traces the story of one man s life, from 1937 to the present day. The small incidents of Mose s childhood, his family, the routines and rituals of traditional village life paint an evocative picture of a peaceful way of life, now long-vanished. The coming of a radio into Mose s family s house marks the beginning of the changes that would connect them to the wider world. They learn of partition, independence, a land called America. Growing up, Mose and his friends become involved in the Naga struggle for Independence, and they are caught in a maelstrom of violence ? protest and repression, attacks and reprisals ? that ends up ripping communities apart.

The herb, bitter wormwood, was traditionally believed to keep bad spirits away. For the Nagas, facing violent struggle all around, it becomes a powerful talisman: We sure could do with some of that old magic now.

Bitter Wormwood gives a poignant insight into the human cost behind the political headlines from one of India s most beautiful and misunderstood regions.

"Easterine Kire is the keeper of her people's memory, their griot. She is a master of the unadorned language that moves because of the power of its evocative simplicity." -- Paul Pimomo

About
Zubaan is an independent feminist publishing house based in New Delhi. We publish academic books, fiction, memoirs and popular nonfiction, as well as books for children and young adults under our Young Zubaan imprint, aiming always to be pioneering, cutting-edge, progressive and inclusive. Find out more.

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